628 



CORDIACE^. 



[Perigynous Exogens. 



.-. J^zi''^^ 



Order CCXL. CORDIACE^.— Sebestens. 



R. Brown Prodr. 492. (1810) ; Martins N. G. et Sp. 2. 138, both without a ?!«»(€.— Cordiacese, Link 

 Handb. 1. 569. (1829) ; Endl. Ge?i.cxlii.— Arguzise, £mfe.— BorragineaeCordieae, Alph. DC. Prodr. 

 8. 467. 



Diagnosis. — Solanal Exogens^ with 5 free stamem, axile placenta, aud leafy cotyledons, 

 folded longititdinally. 



Trees. Leaves alternate, scabrous, \\ithout stipules, of a" hard harsh textm'e. Flowers 

 panicled, never gyrate, with minute bracts. Calyx inferior, 4- 5-toothed, ribbed m 



most cases. Corolla monopetalous, 

 4- 5-cleft, regular, imbricated. Sta- 

 mens alternate with the segments of 

 the corolla, out of wliich they arise ; 

 anthers versatile. Ovary superior, 

 4- 8-celled, with 1 pendulous, anatro- 

 pal ovule in each cell ; style conti- 

 nuous ; stigma 4- 8-cleft, with recurved 

 segments. Fruit drupaceous, 4- 8- 

 celled ; part of the cells frequently 

 abortive. Seed pendulous from the 

 apex of the cells by a long funiculus, 

 upon which it is tui'ned back ; em- 

 bryo inverted, with the cotyledons 

 plaited longitudinally ; albumen ; 

 radicle superior. 



The plaited cotyledons and dicho- 

 tomous style first led to the separation 

 of this Order from Borageworts, 

 with which it was formerly associated, 

 chiefly, it is to be supposed, on ac- 

 count of the roughness of the leaves. 

 Von Martius I'emarks, that it is in 

 fact much nearer Bindweeds, from 

 which it differs in its inverted embryo 

 and di'upaceous fruit. Nevertheless, 

 M. Alph. De CandoUe has reverted 

 to the old opinion, and admitted it as 

 the first tribe of his Borragineae. I 

 confess, however, that it seems to me 

 impossible to admit Sebestens even 

 into the same category as Borage- 

 worts, the indispensable pecuUarities 

 of which are a gyrate inflorescence, 

 and nucamentaceous fruit, neither of 

 wiiich cii'cumstances occur here. 



The species are, for the most part, 

 natives of the tropics of both hemi- 

 spheres. A few occiu* in the cooler 

 parts of South America. 

 The flesh of their fruit is succulent, mucilaginous, and emollient, as is seen in Cordia 

 Myxa and latifolia. They are behoved to have been the Persea of Dioscorides, The 

 smell of their nuts when cut is heavy and disagreeable, the taste of the kernels hke that 

 of fresh filberts. They are the true Sebestens of the Em-opean Materia Medica, but ac- 

 cording to Roxburgh, are not used in the Northern Circars of India, for any medicinal 

 purpose. When ripe they are eaten by the natives, and also most greedily by several 

 sorts of birds, being of a sweetish taste. Cordia Rumphii has a brown wood, beautifully 

 veined with black, and smelling of musk. The timber of C. Gerascanthus, called Bois 

 de Chypre, and Spanish Elm, is of some importance m the West Indies. The bark of 



Fig. CCCCXXII 



Fig. GCCCXXII. — Cordia Sebestena. 1. calyx ; 2. pistil ; 3. transverse section of embryo. 



